Date of Graduation
Summer 2024
Degree
Master of Science in Applied Behavior Analysis
Department
Psychology
Committee Chair
Jordan Belisle
Abstract
The practice of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) heavily relies on the relationship between high quality client services and the direct care staff who implement these services. This thesis combines two manuscripts which discuss the field of behavior analysis in terms of clinical approaches. The first chapter evaluated intervention outcomes of 55 autistic learners undergoing language and cognitive training guided by PEAK (Promoting Emergence of Advanced Knowledge System; Dixon, 2014) within ABA services. Pre-post analyses of performance on the PCA revealed significant increases in PCA scores following 6-months of intervention and consistent gains in scores occurred across all four PEAK modules. Results from a multiple regression analysis indicated that age at the onset of intervention and the total number of mastered programs were significant predictors of improvements on the PCA. Autism symptom severity and total treatment hours were not significant predictors of intervention outcomes in this sample. To support autistic learners and provide the necessary treatment fidelity, direct care staff must be equipped to implement services. The second chapter discusses the evaluation of a Prosocial intervention to support workplace climate and performance at multiple levels within an ABA clinic. Service providers in the field of applied behavior analysis often experience high rates of burnout, low job satisfaction, and high turnover rates, particularly when professional social support and psychological flexibility are less likely to occur. Prosocial (Atkins et al., 2018) is an approach to supporting organizations by promoting adaptive and flexible responding within groups by integrating elements of acceptance and commitment training (ACT) with Ostrom’s core design principles (CDPs) to guide collective action. Results of this study suggested that the use of prosocial frameworks support increases in each CDP as well as improvement in reported stress, burnout, and overall group cohesion.
Keywords
PEAK relational training system, autism, direct care staff, prosocial, core design principles, ABA therapy
Subject Categories
Applied Behavior Analysis
Copyright
© Stephanie Vickroy
Recommended Citation
Vickroy, Stephanie, "Enhancing Workplace Climate and Learning Outcomes in ABA Services: Prosocial Approaches and PEAK Instruction With Autistic Learners" (2024). MSU Graduate Theses. 3995.
https://bearworks.missouristate.edu/theses/3995
